Friday, October 09, 2009
About Mantra
This morning, I opened one of my all time favorite spiritual books at random to see what came forth. The book is an ancient Kashmir Shaivite text called "Spanda Karikas" or "the Yoga of Vibration and Divine Pulsation." This fascinating volume describes the beginning--and continuation--of the universe as "spanda"--or gentle vibration of the Ultimate Source (reminiscent of modern physics which finds that all matter is in fact vibration, and that our universe began when space moved or rippled just a bit.) "Spanda" refers to this underlying vibration and "karikas" simply means verses.
The section I turned to (in Jaideva Singh's translation, Introduction to the lst and 2nd verse of Part II) had to do with mantra. Most of us know of mantra as a repeated series of words, sometimes the name of a god or goddess, sometimes more extensive. What this passage revealed was that the power of mantra derives from the god or goddess who inhabits it for the time that it is spoken. In fact, mantra itself is a god, and the divine shakti (energy) infuses the human speaker as long as the repetition continues. When the mantra is finished, the god as well as the mind of the devotee gets dissolved back into the "Spanda principle."
I like this notion very much. But we must remember that not just any "mantra" will suffice. When I attempted to do the practice of a mantra that was assigned to me by an instructor of a certain group, I had no luck whatsoever. In fact, I actively disliked the word given to me. Later, after I gave up that practice, I heard an "inner mantra" that I loved, though I did not comprehend the meaning of the words.
The translation was quite simple as it turned out. In fact, it was one of the commonest mantras in India, but the syllables sang to me. I still like to repeat it and often find that it stirs the inner energies and allows me to feel connected to the divine source of all.
